


Western Courtship

by Burgie



Series: SSO Wild West AU [3]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M, SSO Wild West AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 01:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14249829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Alonso finally asks Eden on a date. Eden belongs to sso-eden-dawnvalley on tumblr and the wild west AU belongs to clightlee.





	1. Chapter 1

There was absolutely no reason for Eden to be up this early. At least, no selfless reason. She didn't need to patrol the perimeter of the ranch for coyotes or bandits, the new ranch hand, Alonso, was doing that. And yet here she was, saddling up her appaloosa Genesis, as the sky outside was still dark with dawn and the grass was still wet with cold dew. All of the lights in the main house were off, including Eden's, now that she'd dressed and even put on a little makeup. Hey, she was seeing a boy she sort of maybe fancied, she was allowed to look good for him.

"Alright, Genesis, quietly, now," Eden murmured to her horse as she rode him at a walk across the vast stretches of land that made up her family's ranch. Though, with the way her heart was pounding, she wouldn't be surprised if everyone could hear her approach. And yet the cattle in their fields stayed asleep, as did the horses. Nobody was awake at this hour save for herself, Alonso, Genesis, and Alonso's good mare Mardy. Eden carried with her a thermos of hot coffee, knowing that Alonso would likely need it, and nothing else but for a feeling of love in her heart. Okay, so she did like him.

At last, Eden found her man by the fence at the far reaches of the ranch. He was bent down, peering at a piece of barbed wire that had something stuck to it. Eden approached quietly on foot so as not to spook him into injuring his hand on the barbed wire. Mardy looked up, chewing on some grass, and immediately sniffed at Eden's pockets for blueberries. Eden rolled her eyes with a kind smile, petting Mardy's nose. Alonso rose to his feet, brushing his hands off on his pants.

"Hi," Eden whispered. Alonso jumped, and Eden was glad that she'd waited. At least there was nothing for him to injure himself on now.

"Eden!" Alonso whisper-shouted, and Eden thought that she spied a blush on his cheeks. A blush warmed her own cheeks at the thought that she'd made him blush. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Just bringing you some coffee," said Eden. The two kept their voices quiet so as not to disturb any of the sleeping horses. She handed him the thermos, and waited while Alonso unscrewed the lid and sniffed at the liquid contained within. He smiled.

"Thanks," said Alonso. "I really appreciate it."

"I thought you might," said Eden. "You took your warm clothes and horse, but you couldn't exactly bring enough coffee without it going cold. And we need our guard on high alert, to watch out for any dangers." She was talking too much. Stop talking.

"You thought right," said Alonso with a chuckle, taking a long gulp of it. "Ooh, that's hot."

"What did you expect?" said Eden with a laugh. "It is fresh."

"Ow," Alonso muttered, biting his tongue. Eden blushed at the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth.

"And here are your blueberries, Mardy," said Eden, turning back to her saddlebags and pulling out a bag of the horse's favourite treat. Mardy nickered, her ears pricking forward with delight, and shoved her head into the bag. Eden almost toppled over, but Alonso caught her with a laugh.

"Thank you for thinking of us," said Alonso, smiling as Mardy chowed down on her snack.

"You're welcome," said Eden, smiling. She decided not to tell him just yet that she never stopped thinking about the handsome ranch hand that her parents had hired.

The next day (or later the same day, really), Alonso slept most of the day, as he often did after a night spent on watch. Eden didn't disturb him, leaving him to his rest. But she did ensure that the house remained quiet, moving any activities far away from the main house. She was exercising Phoenix, one of her newer horses, a morgan-friesian cross, in a corral when a sleepy-eyed, mussed-haired Greek god of a man wandered over from the main house. He had his hat off, and the sight of him was almost enough to make her trip up. And she was standing as Phoenix ran around her.

"Afternoon," said Alonso, leaning on the fence. Eden could not speak. Her tongue was tied, the cat had it, whatever you said, that was happening to her right now.

"Hi," she finally managed to say. "Have a nice sleep?"

"The best," said Alonso, stretching, his shirt rode up and oh god oh god oh god. "Thanks for keeping the place quiet for me." Speak. Eden, speak.

"I figured you'd need it," said Eden. Phoenix tossed his head, trying to escape while Eden was otherwise preoccupied.

"I did," said Alonso. "Never slept so well in my life. Thank you." Eden's face was on fire at the grateful look that he gave her.

"You're welcome," said Eden, holding Phoenix firmly there. She knew his tricks, and he wasn't getting away with it this time.

"I should thank your properly, though," said Alonso as Eden got back to work lunging Phoenix. "Do you have time to come into town with me for a milkshake?" And there went the rope, the lunge whip falling to the ground too. Eden whirled around as Phoenix made a break for the gate, trying and failing to get through it. He snorted, foiled.

"What?" said Eden, breathless in shock.

"Y'know, as a thank you," said Alonso, looking down. "And... a guy taking a pretty girl out on a date." Eden's heart felt like it had exploded. She felt like screaming.

"Yes," said Eden, walking over to Phoenix and grabbing the cheeky runaway. "A thousand times yes, just let me put Phoenix away and I'll let my parents know."

"Great," said Alonso, grinning. There was a light in his eyes that Eden had never seen in there before. "It's a date."

Her parents were surprisingly okay with Eden dating, almost urging her on out of the ranch. Her father even offered to put Phoenix away, when usually he was adamant about Eden looking after her own horse. It gave her time to almost skip to her room, apply some makeup, dress up in her Sunday best, and meet Alonso at the gate, where he had a trap ready with two of the ranch's draft horses, a black one and a chestnut one. Eden climbed up into the trap, sitting nervously beside Alonso. He'd dressed in his finest shirt, trousers, and belt buckle, in addition to his hat, and Eden could have swooned.

"You scrub up nicely," said Eden, breaking the silence as the horses plodded along the road.

"For a moment there, I thought that an angel had climbed into the trap," said Alonso. Eden fanned her face, feeling suddenly too hot. Maybe this dress was made of a heavier cotton, maybe she'd used too much makeup, maybe she should have worn something simpler. And then Alonso took her hand, and Eden almost did swoon as he grinned at her.

"You flatter me, Alonso," said Eden, glad for the glove that prevented him from feeling her sweaty palm. They made idle banter as the trap continued on into town, talking about things that were happening at the ranch. Alonso entertained Eden with funny stories about Mardy getting into the blueberries of neighbouring families, and Eden had Alonso in stitches over things that Phoenix had done. She was just finishing up a story about the time that Phoenix had gotten out of the stable when the trap finally rolled into town, and Alonso pulled the horses to a stop outside of the local milk bar run by none other than a local man named Leonardo. Alonso helped Eden down, Eden's heart thumping, and they took a seat at one of the tables.

"Wait here a moment," said Alonso after they'd ordered a malt and sundae to share. Eden fiddled with her dress as she waited, rather nervous. What was he up to? But when he returned, her heart leaped in her chest. Alonso carried with him a bouquet of flowers, not the simple bouquets that she'd picked for him around the ranch but a real bouquet, probably bought from Iris, the cute florist who many people fawned over.

"Oh, Alonso," Eden sighed, her hands over her chest.

"For you, my lady," said Alonso, handing her the bouquet. Eden sighed lovingly as she took it, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers. There were even some roses in this bunch. Alonso was one wealthy man, then, to be able to afford roses.

"Thank you," said Eden, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah, would you like a vase to put those in?" asked Leonardo when he arrived with the malt and sundae, placing them between the pair.

"Yes please," said Alonso. Eden's heart was racing, she hadn't expected the man to be such a gentleman. A part of her thought that it was about time he'd picked up on her signals, the longing glances, the way she cared for Mardy, the flowers and early morning coffees and conversations. Today wasn't the first time that she'd shown him such kindness, but it was the first time that she'd had that kindness reciprocated.

"This is wonderful," said Eden, smiling over their shared treats as Leonardo went to fetch a vase for their flowers.

"I finally worked up the courage to ask your father for permission to court you," said Alonso. Eden's heart fluttered, and she couldn't suppress a coo of delight. "He was pretty ready to accept it, he gave me the trap pretty quickly."

"They did give me the afternoon off pretty quickly, too," said Eden. She laughed. "Maybe they were just waiting for you to ask."

"That would be pretty funny, huh?" said Alonso with a chuckle as he scooped up some ice cream and held the spoon out towards her. Eden blushed and ate the proffered spoonful. Leonardo returned with a glass for their vase, and Eden smiled as she put the flowers into it.

"This is so sweet," said Eden as they enjoyed their meal of ice cream and milk. "Thank you so much for taking me out here."

"It's my pleasure, really," said Alonso. "I've wanted this for a long time."

"Me too," said Eden, blushing. Alonso grinned as he took a straw and sipped at their malt. Eden took a straw too, and they gazed into each other's eyes as they drank. For this afternoon, it was like nothing else existed but them. And that was just fine by Eden.


	2. Bonus Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Alonso went about asking for Eden's father's permission.

Alonso awoke feeling more refreshed than ever before. But he also felt a fondness, a warmth in his chest. And he knew exactly who had put it there. Eden Dawnvalley, the daughter of the family who worked here, the daughter of his boss, the girl who'd shown him nothing but a shy kindness since he'd started working here. She was such a nice girl, and beautiful, too. The thought of her dark brown hair and indigo eyes set something stirring in Alonso's chest, in his gut. It made him blush just to think of it.

It was about time for Alonso to do something about that warm, fuzzy feeling, about that kindness. And so, he got up, pulled on some decent clothes, made his hair look decent, and strode up to the office door of the Dawnvalley ranch patriarch. Or at least, in his mind, he did that. In reality, he shot out of bed and walked out of his bedroom before he lost the nerve, marching to the office with one desire only in his mind. He knocked on the door, willing his traitorous legs not to fail, his voice not to waver. When the door opened, he almost bolted, but managed to convince himself to stay put, even as the man's steely gaze bored into him.

"Yes, son, what is it?" asked the man. Alonso gulped, ignoring the trembling in his legs, and tried to straighten his spine.

"I would like to court your daughter," said Alonso, standing up as straight as he could. The man could probably see his trembling, but he said nothing, only raised an eyebrow.

"So, you want to date my daughter, do you?" said the man. Alonso nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Yes, sir," said Alonso, giving him a nod. The man hummed thoughtfully, making Alonso wait for too long.

"Well, it's about darned time!" said the man, startling Alonso.

"S-sir?" Alonso stammered, shock writ plain on his face.

"The wife and I have been waiting for you two lovesick fools to make a move for ages," said the man, chuckling. "Of course you can court my daughter, heck, do whatever you two kids want, it's been obvious for ages that you two like each other. Here, you can borrow the trap and some drafts, take her into town to the milk bar, buy her some flowers, make your move already."

"Thank you, sir," said Alonso, grinning as relief flooded through him. Still grinning, he left the house and headed for the corral where he knew that Eden would be training Phoenix.


End file.
